long cruise, was it?
anything i can do to help, lieutenant?
i'll bet!
yeah. hold this. it might be safer.
now i know why all the girls come here. they know how horny you guys get. but this. is ridiculous.
it isn't?
that's a big comfort to me.
how so?
and on to a bigger one with you?
was there ever a girl who didn't like fighter pilots?
i'm really flattered, lieutenant, but i don't go out with pilots.
i think the question is. what are you?
sorry.
where's your wing man? who's watching your six?
too bad.
see you around.
i'm with someone.
yeow!
you! what are you doing here?
what if captain dawson had come with me?
how did you know this was my car?
that's all!
you think you're pretty smart.
i don't know, corporal. can you do anything about this lunatic?
hello, i think i have some new data for you. now a mig 21 has a problem with the inverted flight tanks. it won't do a negative g push over. even below one g, they risk a flame out. operationally, they will do a zero to one g only.
the latest intelligence shows that the most they will do in operation is one. is there something wrong, lieutenant.
i beg your pardon.
why not?
you saw a mig 21?
where did you see that?
it's what?
it's all right.
lieutenant, i have a top secret clearance. the pentagon sees to it that i know more than you.
you saw a mig push negative 4g?
where were you?
he was in a 4g negative dive and you were on his six?
if you were directly above him, how did you see him?
you were in a 4g inverted dive with a mig 21?
two miles.
lieutenant.
what were you doing there?
the what?
so you're the reason those salt talks failed.
it never came up.
you seemed determined to do that anyway.  why didn't you tell me you were a famous mig insulter?
no.
you know, i'm assigned to this school. i see sixteen new hotshots every eight weeks. your attention is flattering, but not really productive. why don't you keep your mind on flying.
why can't you keep this straight?
you flew it off the template. nobody ever did that before.
what is it about you?
and far too aggressive.
the hottest moves in the world aren't gonna help you if you wind up alone. your wingman's got to be able to follow you. trust you. know that he can depend on you. it's more than just fancy flying.
for what?
apology acknowledged.
what else do you want?
there you go with those moves again.
i don't mix with the boys. i work here. let's keep it professional.
yes. i'll give you that!
i can't.
lieutenant.
maverick. you know the rules of engagement.
some one comes up hot on your six, what do you do?
you turn into him, check him out, identify friend or foe.
and if he's harmless, you disengage.
uh hum.
you have to shoot him down. if he's smart, he'll turn away before that happens.
and probably never again. it's nothing personal. it's just. i know a lot of pilots. maybe i'm immune.
how about what?
hard to argue with that, isn't it.
what about the plane?
most of them invite me to sit in the cockpit. play with the levers and things.
used to what?
i'm starting to sense that now.
make what?
okay, anything. just. go. i've gotta work.
why'd you do that?
you're an animal.
i don't enjoy watching things suffer.
no!
you're horrible
you don't have to kill it.
you ever think about killing another human being?
does it bother you?
flying?
you don't believe any of this. you don't think you'll ever die.
winston churchill.
what he said"there's nothing so exhilarating as being shot at without result."
what if you kill yourself? think of everything you'll miss.
are you really that brave?
it's just as i thought.
you're totally insane.
where?
i don't know. i don't like being out of control.
and now?
you always get what you want?
i want it understood.
no fooling on base, no signs, no comments, no talk. by anyone.
i'm a professional. you guys are in my line of work.
in that order?
i'm still second best.
i don't fly in anything that doesn't show movies.
danger?
doesn't it ever bother you?
what do you take me for? it's a navy cross.
where'd you get it.
they say you're alright.
this is it, then.
the dark side. the price you pay for all the fun you're having. you knew about it, of course. didn't you?
that's not what i hear.
that's what you get flight pay for.
why? you act like you didn't know one day this would happen.
you knew it. you all do. it's part of it. maybe the most important part.
where are we? you know where we are. it's called the beach. it's where life first crawled up out of the sea. i come here sometimes.  when i feel like crawling back in.
do what, show you a good time?
i don't think so, but if that's what you want.
what do you want?
what?
you look way out there. out past the date line. west becomes east, all things change. you cross the line. today becomes yesterday. or tomorrow, i forget which.
of course the line's just imaginary. you can cross it twenty times. nothing really changes.
on the beach.  it's what they say when navy men retire. he's "on the beach". i always liked that. i had a picture. in my head.  all these old guys wandering around here, looking out into the past.
you don't believe that.
only when you're depressed. then it passes.
everything passes. immutable law of the universe.
this too. shall pass. you put as much life as you can between it and you. you start piling up experience between then and now.
i sit. i think. i play games.
i like to play "reality".
it's strip reality, actually, like what the pilots always want to play.
it's like strip poker, only, without the bluffing. one person says something and if the other one accepts that it's true, the one who says it, gets to take one item of clothing off.
not as silly as some. you know the silliest one? . that we are gods. that we control events on the beach.  that we can turn back time.
want to play the game?
you say the truth. go ahead. don't be afraid. you want to win the game, don'tcha?
the big one. the one that's most on your mind.
true.
take something off.
that's up to you.
it's dangerous. what you do.
you can't bring him back.
nope. already used that.
your life goes on.
that wasn't fair. it was a question. penalty round!
you didn't mean it. you didn't think. you'd do anything to take it back.
and that's one!
your watch.
looks like a tie.
we'll say it together. on the count of three. one. two.
never liked fighter pilots anyway.
i'll have what he's having.  hemlock, is it?
you weren't gonna say goodbye?
long distance? i wouldn't do that to you. i'd at least talk to you.
i know exactly what you mean.
i've got a gift just like you do. my gift is i just know what people mean, even if they can't say it. it helps when you're trying to communicate with fighter pilots. like what you just said was "i'm embarrassed, i feel i've done something wrong, that i've failed, and i don't think i can live up to the expectations of a wonderful interesting, intelligent woman like yourself." that about it?
and i'm gonna sneak off, and be by myself for awhile, like until i can think of a new career. hotel management or something.
hey, i never said i was a fighter pilot. i never claimed to think it was fun to be shot off the end of a ship in a storm. i can find contentment in a good book. i don't have to roar by someone at mach two with my hair on fire. sometimes. i just get happy being with the right man.
i think i have.  i could be wrong. i have been before. just remember one thing. if you're not top gun, if you're not fighting jets, you're not gonna be able to act like a fighter pilot.  you're gonna have to act like the rest of us. you're gonna have to master humility. for you guys, that's the toughest maneuver of all.
so long, sailor. see you on the beach sometime.
not for long, you keep that up.
well?
you got your f-14, you got top gun, you got your migs. you're our new top gun instructor. now what?
i live here, remember?
everybody's got to be somewhere.